Intellectual property is known as ‘Knowledge of goods’. It is the product of a man’s brain. The right to intellectual property is a right upon a product of a man’s brain and that is an intangible right. There are several types of intellectual property rights such as patents,copyrights,trademarks,geographical indications,etc..All of these confers some exclusive rights to the creator which no one else can use it without his permission. It provokes the inventor to comes up with new works and it develops the society.
Copyright is one such right which most of them are familiar with. It gives exclusive rights to the author or the creator of the work to enjoy the work and gain income from it. Copyright is an essential element in the developing process of the country. Copyright is a negative right. It means it prevents all others from copying his work or doing any act which copies the work or violates the right of the copyright owner according to him. Even though copyright gives bundle of rights to the copyright owner, it is not persistent. There is a time period which the author or creator can enjoy those rights and after that it goes to the public domain. According to the copyright act, 1957,it is limited to the life time of the author and the 60 years after his death. After the said period the copyright work goes to the public domain where everyone can access the work without any permission.
In India copyright subsists in,orginal literary works,dramatic works,musicial and artistic works,cinematograph filims,sound recording,literary works includes computer programme including databases. The author or creator can get copyright right in the following. At the duration of his ownership, if anyone tries to copy or does anything on his work, he can sue them for the infringement of the copyright. They have to compensate the copyright owner as the law prescribes.
The exclusive rights which the copyright owner is having can be transferred to any person as per his discretion for financial gain. If the copyright owner do so, all his rights excluding the moral rights will be transferred. That can be to a person or a group of person or a firm. The transferee will get all the rights of the copyright owner and sues for the infringement of such rights if someone does violate any rights which are exclusory for them. This is a reward for the original copyright owner that he can gain income from his work and part of that can be invested to any other work he wishes to do.
As mentioned before, not all rights are transferrable. The author is having some moral rights. This includes the right of paternity and right of integrity. Right of paternity means the author can claim the authorship of the work and also make such demands that his name should appear in all copies of his work at the appropriate place. He can also prevent others from using his name in their works.
Right of integrity means the author has right to prevent any mutilation, alteration to his work or any other action from any person which makes the quality of the work insignificant or prejudicial to his honour or reputation.
Copyright is an important intellectual property right which most of them are aware about. In film industries the copyright plays an important role too. It is very important to develop the scope of this kind of intellectual property rights as it develops the society and most times improves the living standard of the people.
